A rider loses a medal, a one-stirrup puissance and other things the horse world is talking about

Medal lost

Dressage rider Andreas Helgstrand has lost the bronze medal he won at the 2023 Danish national championships owing to veterinary treatment given to the horse the night before. The Danish equestrian federation said Andreas was not aware of the treatment given to his horse, for mild colic, until he was informed on 6 June 2023 about the complaint filed.

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A chip off the old block

Maisy Williams, the teenage daughter of big-wall aficionado Guy Williams, was the sole rider to clear the big wall at 2.05m (6ft 7in) to win the Dodson & Horrell puissance at the ALX Horseboxes Major Showjumping Championships (18-24 September) at Arena UK, Lincolnshire. It was only 17-year-old Maisy’s second attempt at tackling the big wall, on Dalton D’Hoyo.

Read what Maisy had to say

Jail for attacks on horses

A man who stabbed, slashed and strangled horses, leaving them in “significant pain and distress”, has been sent to prison. Luke Ward, of Upper Woodview Place, Beeston, admitted four offences of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at an earlier hearing, and was sentenced to 45 months in jail, at Leeds Crown Court on Monday (25 September). One horse was found with a shoelace tied tightly around its neck in “what appeared to be an attempt to strangle it”, police said, and three other horses were injured, including one with a deep cut and a long slash to the side of the neck and another with a three- to four-inch laceration to the face.

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You might also be interested in:

‘I did the best for the horse’ says vet – top rider loses medal and fined over horse’s colic treatment

A chip off the old block: teenager clears 6ft7in with one stirrup to win puissance

Man slashed and strangled horses, leaving them in ‘significant pain’

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